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This past Saturday, I was invited to speak at the 38th Annual AILA California Chapters Conference in Long Beach, California. The panel was titled “I Want to Practice Immigration Law! Self-Care for Challenging Times” and explored how we, as immigration attorneys, can build resilience, practice self-care, and sustain a meaningful and impactful career.
Why Is Reconnecting With Your “Why” So Important?
During my panel, I spoke about the importance of reconnecting with your “Why” and how that impacts the purpose behind the work that we do. Reconnecting with your “Why,” especially during challenging times, helps you motivate yourself, recharge your resilience, and reignite your passion for the work you do. I shared that my “Why” is to help others by showing up to do the hard work and making a positive difference in their lives in an immediate and impactful way.
How Do Core Values Shape Legal Practice?
I also highlighted how important it is to know your core values and ensure that the work you do and the people you work with align with them. I shared that my firm’s core values include prioritizing human-centric values, such as offering a client-centered approach to how we work with our clients, delivering exceptional work products that strive for results and justice, and maintaining a balanced approach to life and work. As I have built a team, clients, and environment that reflect these values, I have realized how crucial this type of focus is and how it cements the foundation for meaningful, impactful, and fulfilling work for everyone involved.
For example, whether we’re guiding someone through the adjustment of status process or advocating for families in difficult legal battles, that alignment with our core values drives how we work.
Why Must We Prioritize Self-Care in Legal Work?
I truly believe that to care for others, we need to care for ourselves. This is why it is extremely important to integrate these principles into our everyday practice—from prioritizing self-care and acknowledging the emotional weight of the work to creating a supportive environment for both my firm and my clients to help drive case results and client satisfaction. By taking intentional steps to align daily actions with our purpose and values, we have established a way to sustain a long, fulfilling career while continuing to serve others with care and excellence.
This approach also plays a role in emotionally demanding immigration areas, such as working with clients under VAWA protections, where emotional burden is high and professional care must be paired with empathy.
What Is the Message for the Immigration Law Community?
I hope that sharing my thoughts on purpose, resilience, and values helps inspire others in our community to explore their own “Why” and how it shapes their environment by creating meaning and fulfillment for themselves and everyone around them.
If you want to learn more about our values-driven approach, visit our immigration law office in Los Angeles.